Personal tools

Marbled Murrelet

Audubon Society of Portland's work to protect the threatened Marbled Murrelet includes litigation, habitat restoration, advocacy and more.

Marbled Murrelets are a Pacific seabird with unique habitat needs. Though they depend on the ocean for food, these robin-sized birds nest up to 30 miles inland in old- and mature-growth forests. When chicks fledge, they journey to the sea under cover of darkness, transitioning in one night from a life lived high in the treetops to one spent floating on the waves.

First listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1992, Marbled Murrelets are primarily threatened by logging, which has resulted in the destruction and fragmentation of the species' nesting habitat. The Audubon Society of Portland's work to protect this rare seabird includes litigation, habitat restoration, advocacy and more.

Updates

June 2016, Portland Audubon, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity and Oregon Wild petitioned the Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Oregon Board of Forestry to “uplist” the Marbled Murrelet to “endangered” status under the Oregon Endangered Species Act (OESA). The petition to the Board of Forestry asks the agency to identify and protect important forest sites critical to the species’ survival. The agencies are required to work together to recover murrelets.

March 2015: The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected yet another attempt by the timber industry to remove federal endangered species protections from the Marbled Murrelet. The appeal was the timber industry’s fifth attempt in the past decade to eliminate protections for the old-growth forests that Marbled Murrelets call home, despite undisputed scientific evidence that has shown murrelets continue to disappear from the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Audubon and several other groups represented by EarthJustice intervened in this case on behalf of murrelets. For more information, contact Audubon Society of Portland conservation director Bob Sallinger at bsallinger@audubonportland.org or 503 380-9728.

Audubon's Work to Protect Marbled Murrelets

The Audubon Society of Portland's history with the Marbled Murrelet goes back decades. In 1988, the organization commissioned biologist and longtime board member Dave
Marshall to produce a status report on the species. The report
concluded, "the principal factor affecting the continued existence of
the species over the southern portion of its North American range is
destruction of old-growth and mature forests. The situation is
particularly critical in California, Oregon, and Washington States,
which have very few coastal old-growth stands of significant size set
aside."

That same year, the Audubon Society of Portland petitioned the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to list the species under the Federal Endangered
Species Act. In the absence of federal action, Audubon brought a lawsuit
against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1991 to force a listing
decision, and in 1992, the Marbled Murrelet was formally listed as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We continue to use litigation to protect the species in places like the Elliott State Forest.

Audubon also works on the ground to
protect Marbled Murrelet habitat, and has focused its efforts on an
80,000-acre area in Oregon between Cape Perpetua and Heceta Head that is home to the
largest intact stand of coastal temperate rainforest in the lower 48
states. This area – designated by Audubon as the Marbled Murrelet
Important Bird Area (IBA) – contains what may be the highest concentration of Marbled Murrelets in the state of Oregon. The landscape is owned by a
variety of public and private entities, and its permanent protection is
of critical importance to Marbled Murrelets and a variety of other
species.

The Audubon Society of Portland owns and manages a 216-acre forested parcel, Ten Mile
Creek Sanctuary, within the Marbled Murrelet
IBA. Paul Engelmeyer, our Coastal IBA Coordinator,
manages the sanctuary with several land
management goals: improve forest canopy, encourage wildlife habitat
diversity, encourage succession to old-growth forest characteristics, and create a model for community-based protection and restoration efforts.
He also works to influence surrounding landowners to shift toward a
protection and restoration strategy for the area's forests.

Recently, the Audubon Society of Portland also contributed to efforts to create a
new system of marine reserves and protected areas along Oregon's
coast. These reserves will help protect critical ocean habitat for
seabirds and other marine species. The marine reserve at Cape Perpetua
is adjacent to the Marbled Murrelet Important Bird Area and Ten Mile Creek Sanctuary.

Audubon Society of Portland promotes the understanding, enjoyment, and protection of native birds, other wildlife,
and their habitats. We focus on our local community and the Pacific Northwest.
Inspiring people to love & protect nature since 1902.

Volunteer Hours in 2016:
48,420

ORGANIZATION'S NAME GOES HERE!!! It will be hidden by CSS; we need it
only for hCard compliance.